Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Chinese Medicine and Parasites

Episode 28: Parasites 101Description: Parasites and humans have developed a unique cat and mouse
relationship. One of our human immune systems detecting the parasite and the
parasite evading our immune system. Lee Likins, PhD, a professor of
parasitology at University of Missouri Kansas City, joins the show today to
gleam some insight on these zombie driving, antigen cloaking, brain hiding,
worm wiggling, suicide inspiring, host sucking, creatures! And some TCM on how
to treat them.

You still don’t know what you’re dealing with, do you? Perfect
organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility…I admire
its purity; unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.

-Ash to Riply in Alien (1979)

It’s only quite fitting that we begin this discussion with a
quote from one of the most terrifying and fascinating films ever produced. It’s
about a huge bug, a parasite, a bogyman of sorts that plants larvae inside a
host to hatch out later to become an adult creature. The science behind the
movie is exact. The subliminal message behind the movie is quite revealing as
to the ultimate parasite. We believe that Lee Likins, Ultimate Professor of
Parasite Evolutionary Biology, has this quote written probably on his bathroom
mirror. But then, we digress…

Professor Lee Likins is a fascinating human being. He loves
to tell stories. In fact, if he wrote children’s novels we could blame him for
their nightmares. His background in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, coupled
with his nascent knowledge of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, affords him
the ability to talk and teach about one of the most interesting and
misunderstood organisms on the planet. His immense memory and intellect act as
great party favors in which he can quickly alter the tone of any gathering to
make you think about where it is you live on the planet and the various
organisms that live within you as
guests. They may be completely passive; they may be keeping you on the verge of
bleeding out. But, they are there.

In the last thirty to forty years, death from infectious
disease has almost vanished from advanced countries. It is hard to escape from
the anthropocentric attitude that epidemics and prevalence of disease are
purely human problems to be controlled and eliminated by human actions. That
theme has been and remains the evolution of the host-parasite relationship and
the understanding of current ecological situations in evolutionary terms. How
has the parasite adapted to our ever-changing ecological destructive processes?
How has the parasite become one of the most, if not the most, successful organisms to have ever lived on our planet?
There are a few infectious diseases that pose a truly public health threat
because of their incredible ability to kill in large numbers. But what of the
little parasite just sitting inside its host, biding its time, and reproducing
and changing the course of evolution? Which is more terrifying?

Lee Likins will tell you a story. No, in fact, he will tell
you many stories about how the fictional part of the movie Alien may not be that fictional.

Carl Zimmer wrote:

Imagine a
world where parasites control the minds of their hosts, sending them to their
destruction.

Imagine a
world where parasites are masters of chemical warfare and camouflage, able to
cloak themselves with their hosts’ own molecules.

Imagine a
world where parasites steer the course of evolution, where the majority of
species are parasites.

Come inside and let Professor Lee Likins take you on a
journey. A journey through time and space and really nasty critters. More
importantly, an education about one of the most misunderstood organisms that
live around us and in us.

Since this is a Chinese medicine blog, lets get into the meat of how to treat these infections. Luckily, Chinese medical texts have been talking about the symptoms and how to treat these types of infections for thousands of years. BUT the question arises how effective is treatment? For acute situations herbs can be very advantageous for the patient to get a upper hand on symptoms. Be that an immune response that is causing clotting, a blockage in the intestinal track caused by rapidly reproducing worms, diarrhea caused by hookworm, or the itch caused by schistosoma. Getting rid of a parasite is something entirely different, if you really have one. Keep in mind the MOST efficient system we have as humans against pathogens is our immune systems. The techniques employed by parasites to evade the immune system is staggering. Will 10 grams of Wu Mei Wan a day kill a parasite...? In actuality, probably not. Chinese herbs and acupuncture can help keep them in check though!!! See the chart below of different single herbs and what type of parasites they have been shown to treat.